PENSIONER Dennis Knight is warning others to beware after he was handed a £100 charge when his parking ticket blew off his dashboard.

The 77-year-old parked in the car park at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham so that he could accompany his wife Eileen, 79, to an appointment.

He bought a £2 ticket and placed it on the dashboard, only for it to fly off and land in the car when his wife opened the boot to retrieve her umbrella.

When they returned from the appointment they were horrified to find they had been issued a parking charge notice from PCP Enforcement Agency, also known as Parkshield Collection Ltd.

Mr Knight, of Milbeck Close, Cowplain, said: ‘The warden could not have looked around properly, or else he would’ve seen the ticket had blown over.

‘We couldn’t believe it. It’s a lot of money.’

Mr Knight says he immediately wrote off to the appeal’s address, sending a letter the same day, however Park Shield said they had no record of the appeal.

‘My wife was furious so we did it the same day.

‘I went straight back and typed the letter and went straight back to the post office,’ he said.

Parkshield enforces the car park on behalf of Carillion, the facility management services company that is contracted to Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust under a PFI agreement from when the hospital was built.

Parkshield said they had no record of an appeal from Mr Knight following the incident on September 22 and they had subsequently sent him a reminder, advising him to pay the full £100, which would have been £60 if he had paid within the first 14 days.

A spokeswoman from Carillion also confirmed that no appeal had been received and she advised Mr Knight to write again.

Mr Knight said he would appeal again but he labelled the charge, and the original parking charges, as ‘extortionate’.

‘Why should people have to pay to visit their relatives in hospital? It’s outrageous,’ he said.

‘I only hope that people are warned and this doesn’t happen to anyone else.’